DWC, I need some advice and guidance

[Salvein211]

Wow CGI, thanks for dissecting my post Greatly appreciated! :thumbsup:

Ok so yeah I'm not going to follow the bottles advice for ppm range. Is there anyway to find what ppm range strains generally like? I know some strains tolerate or have more of a resistance to nute burn, but surely there are others that just love additional nutes?

Yeah your right, im over thinking the situation lol. I guess what I'm going to try is to increase ppms by 100 every time I change out the rez. So next time I will shoot for 500 and just see what happens. And of course if the plants start to develop a problem, I will adjust accordingly. (Dilute) ..

Good advice with the pH, I'm starting a log and I will check daily or every two days were the ppms and pH are going. But thats the FUN of hydro! I already enjoy it more then soil.

When I said ... Quote "I found it very interesting on how you talked about dialing in on true pH for the strain your growing. As I understand it, you check ppms daily and keep a log. All you do is adjust pH up or down, and keep a chart of ppms. When ppms increase and continue to increase, you are going in the wrong direction because the plant is stealing the h20 out of the res, correct?" Unquote ...... I haven't had to add any top off water. I was thinking in theory, I haven't actually seen any changes or have a need to take action right now. I was thinking upon how I would find the pH my ladies flourish at. But as you said, pH jumps around, usually in one direction, and countering this is important. I understand that fully. And time will tell how I need to counter it. So that gives me my answer on how to find a good pH range to try and sit at.

My biggest concerns was that I wasn't having enough nutes in my water for the plants, and when I saw my ppm range being low compared to the bottle... I was lost. But really, the ladies are doin great. Thanks again for the advice.

[tinytoon]

how old are your plants??

[Salvein211]

Hey Tiny, I think they are about 3 weeks old(give a few days, I dont think they are younger then that at all). They kind of had their life cycle delayed a little due to me changing the rez containers and what not, but for the last week, a pure 7 days, they have been loving life and growing well! They are pure green and the roots are just now starting to poke through and enter the water so today im lowering the water level so there is more of an air gap. I think they have been in this rez for 7 days or so. The plants have still been uptaking nutes I think because I had my bubbles bouncing into the bottom of the baskets. :thumbsup: On a side note, the plants leaves are curling up, in a form of a taco, and I have my suspicions why.... I read some interesting info on a lot of peoples threads but all I could find for this is soil. Its coming down to heat stress, as the plant is sweating.. Caused by lights being to close or too much wind velocity for extended periods of time. Well the lights were a little close because I hadnt moved them in a week, and the babies got a little bit taller... So we will see if thats all I needed. In the room im using, I do have an intake for fresh air. Also, I do have a fan that blows over the canopy. This isnt even close to keeping the air temps down, so I keep the main door halfway open and use a fan to blow in the air from the rest of the house. I can usually keep the room at a solid 82, but there are a few times I saw 90 Weird and wacky Washington weather... The only other thing I read that could be a cause is a nute deficiency in Fe or Mg .. I kinda doubt that since I gave them a good dose of nutes when I mixed the rez.

[tinytoon]

plant only 3 weeks old wont take ppm over 1000. should be around 400-500ppm. Taco look can also be caused by to much N. Your big ppm numbers dont hit until flowering anyways.

[Salvein211]

Oh I forgot to ask, when should I change my rez and how often?

[Salvein211]

Hey thanks for that ppm advice, that makes me feel better. So I tested ph today and its 7.0 ... Then the ppms are 350ish. A solid drop of 50-100 ppms between all the rez. I was going to drop the water level unless I need to change rez all together? Hopefully that N deficiency is directly related to pH levels?

[tinytoon]

I always did weekly rez changes and dont be to quick to dropping the water level, you WANT roots in the water so dont make them chase it to much. Btw a pic or 2 would do wonders

[polishpollack]

Well, the water level is an issue isn't it? That's what happens when you use the larger container. How often you change your water depends more on it's condition. Some hydro ferts are so stable that you may not need to change them much. Alot of people like to change once a week, but if ppm and pH remain stable, you might not need to worry about changing them so much. Especially if you're using large containers. Getting rid of alot of water isn't going to be easy. That's one reason why 5 gallon buckets are good to use. Use of more water creates a need to use more ferts which costs you more in the long run. This should work but you'll also need alot of air to keep the roots from drowning. It's really a trial and error kind of process. You've got to do it for a while and when you have something that works, stick with it.

[Salvein211]

Hey Polish, yeah I agree, and I did switch to the 5gal buckets. Plants are doing superb, all about a foot tall, green as can be and bushy. I think they have been in their 5gal buckets for 3 weeks now. So in all, they are 4 weeks give or take a day or two. I haven't changed my rez once, but from what Im seeing and how Polish explained it, do I need to? Here's an update:

My ppm is around 300-400 still!!! The plants arent intaking the nutes, but they are very healthy.. I dont understand this. They started at about 400-450, and in the 3 weeks they've had this nute batch, they have only gotten into the low 300's on some. Some are 400 still.

One other thing: the room has been about 80 the whole time. In the first few weeks, it got up to 85 a few times, but ive put a stop to that and havent seen a temp over 82 since.

When you say roots drowning, heres my question: When you have well established ladies in 5 gal buckets, about how many inches of gap should the water be from the bottom of the basket? I've got it at about 1-2 inches below.

pH wise, I started at 5.8. The first time I had to top off, they had gotten to 7.0 pH. I topped off with about 5.2 pH. I had to top off last night, and they were at about 6.5, so I used about 5.2pH for top off. (using tap water). Am I not on the ball enough with pH to allow nute intake? I know it needs to be close to 5.8 for best results. Just from my own experience, messing with pH and stressing over it isnt worth the hassle, especially if the girls are healthy. I could add pH down to the rez's every other day to really keep it in range.... Do I need to do that? But as I said, I see no concerns atm.

[tinytoon]

sounds to me like everything is starting to work quite well for u. I suggest continue what u have going on now and keep an eye on the girls, if something is wrong they will tell you.